30 days for refugees - Day 4

Look at the pictures below and see if you can tell – which person is a refugee? Which person gave refugees from Syria a place to stay? Which person is a professor of maths and business-owner? Which person is nurturing future soccer star?

It’s not always easy to tell. After all, “refugee” is just one way of describing an element of a person’s life – it describes a moment in time, often a very traumatic one, but a temporary state nonetheless. A bit like calling someone a student, or a jury member, or an intern.

So whose story is whose?

Who opened up numerous spare rooms to refugees?

That was Amir. Himself a refugee from Syria, he’s always been the sort of person to make the most out of every situation. So when he found himself in Turkey, relatively safe and well-off, it just made perfect sense for him to help others from his homeland. So he gave people fleeing Syria a place to stay in his house.

Who is a professor of maths?

That’s Kenzu. Originally from Ethiopia, Kenzu now lives in Canada and is a refugee community sponsor in Canada. He has also set up a restaurant business with a Syrian refugee family in his town, because, in his words, it’s a win-win – the family get a sustainable way to make a living, and he gets to help them while benefitting from being a business-owner too.

Who is nurturing a future soccer star?

That’s Wissam. Though at first, it was culturally a strange concept that her daughter might play football – which isn’t usually on offer to girls in Syria, where she’s from – she has seen a new lease of life in daughter Zahiya since she joined a girls’ soccer team. And what brings Zahiya joy, brings Wissam great joy too.